Australia’s ABC to demand One Nation remove violent Bluey cartoon

Australia's national broadcaster ABC said Tuesday it would demand that the right-wing populist One Nation party remove a violent political cartoon featuring the popular children's character Bluey.

ABC Managing Director Hugh Marks described the animation as "a shocking use of Australia's most loved character" and "disrespectful to the children of Australia."

Speaking at a Senate estimates hearing, Marks said the broadcaster had sought legal advice after learning of the video last week and would send a cease-and-desist letter.

“We will be taking further action, I can assure you,” Marks said.

The three-minute cartoon, titled The State of Melbourne, was released in 2024 as part of One Nation leader Pauline Hanson's animated Please Explain series.

It depicts caricatures of former Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in an SUV that hits Bluey and Australian conservationist and television presenter Robert Irwin.

The politicians then put the victims' bodies in the trunk. Later, Bluey takes the wheel and drives into cartoon versions of Andrews, Albanese and Irwin in revenge.

Marks said One Nation had not sought permission to use Bluey and argued that the video did not qualify as a parody of the original program.

"It's not a parody of any Bluey work," he said. "It's not a minor use of the intellectual property. In my view, it is an infringement of the intellectual property."

The ABC has contacted Bluey's international distributor, BBC Studios, and Brisbane-based production company Ludo Studio about the video.

Marks said the letter would demand the video's removal and that the broadcaster could also seek damages.

The controversy comes amid scrutiny of political violence following an alleged attack on independent lawmaker Helen Haines, who was struck by a vehicle outside her electoral office on Oct. 19 and lost both legs.

Labor Senator Varun Ghosh called One Nation's use of Bluey "heinous" in light of the incident.

One Nation lawmaker Barnaby Joyce defended the cartoons as satire and warned against excessive restrictions on political expression.

“You get to a point where you are sanitizing beyond satire,” he said.

The video, which has received more than 1.3 million views, remained available on YouTube as of Tuesday.